


Perennial: KaiJou as a Coping Mechanism and Mood Stabilizer

by GoldenCarriagesRequiem



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, One Shot Collection, Other: See Story Notes, might as well have them all in one place, these are not connected
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:35:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29423160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenCarriagesRequiem/pseuds/GoldenCarriagesRequiem
Summary: Literally just a collection of fanfiction involving these two, with pieces that are way too short and way too specific to merit being posted separately. Might be dark, might be comedic, might be domestic, might be angtsy. Who knows? Come in, read the notes for the chapter for a very brief summary, spend less than ten minutes of your life on anything that catches your eye, and then move on.
Relationships: Jounouchi Katsuya | Joey Wheeler/Kaiba Seto
Kudos: 6





	1. A Small Incident

**Author's Note:**

> Kaiba has been very obvious with the hints, and frankly, Jounouchi's embarrassment in front of everyone is arguably his own fault at this point.

“Take. The hint.”

Those had been Kaiba’s parting words. Some very effective ones, too, for Jounouchi had been so utterly disoriented by the sudden demand, that he found nothing to retort with. Everyone else at the table was giving him weird looks, their cups or forks awkwardly held in their hands, mid bite, or having looked up from their phone. Nobody had interrupted their little talk to the side so far. In fact, they had been awfully silent; even now, they still were. It just so happened that they were no longer pretending to be uninterested.

What had the hint been? The thinly veiled insult at his choice of place to meet his friends? He liked this café. Whatever expensive place Kaiba had proposing didn’t catch his attention. Had this something to do with how nobody had been helping him out in defending the shop?

The air he was reading patiently told him he had been far off the mark by assuming this had been an attempt to start an argument. Yugi was signaling him to calm down with a nervous smile, Anzu’s slightly raised eyebrows told him how he just had _no idea_ , and Honda and Otogi were trying not to laugh. Bakura was spacing out. As one does.

Alright. He was the dumb one here, then. But that didn’t mean he was about to admit it to his entire group of friends.

"Ok, so,” he said, and then looked at Yugi, clearing his throat. “What was that about the first prize?”

They could groan all they wanted to. If they couldn’t distinguish him going from actually being dense to pretending to be on pair with osmium, that was on them. What were they expecting? That he would try to figure out this weird tension between him and Kaiba out in the open, outside a café, where they were within earshot of who knows who? Fat chance.

With one sleek sports car driving off in the distance, and barely listening to Yugi’s story, he began to wonder if this had anything to do with what happened last time, when Isono had personally delivered a hotel key to him, from Kaiba himself, and left without much preamble or explanation. That had been weird too; that had been—

_Oh._

You know what? He slapped his own forehead, because it had been so damn obvious. All eyes were on him again. And he didn’t dare look back at them because these were embarrassing news to have delivered here, of all places.

“Did you get it now?” Honda asked him, with a smirk, as the tension finally rose from the table and got lost in space.

Holding back from decking Honda for being Honda, Jounouchi grumbled something barely intelligible to Yugi, in the hope that no one else would catch it.

“I have it,” Bakura chimed in.

“Why do you have his number?” Jounouchi asked, not thinking things through in the slightest. Again, as one does.

Wait, no. This guy had not been spacing out at—

“I actually don’t. Sorry."

He had fucked up. The table erupted into chuckles and giggles. On the bright side, at least his friends were supportive of his sudden curiosity. But this was embarrassing, and if someone didn't knock something off the table now, he was going to have to do something about it himself. He called out to the waitress, leaving everyone else to struggle with keeping their composure as well, even if not as much as he did. But as soon as she left, he was left listening to a rather long string of "congrats" coming in many different voices. Some of them more than once, the cheeky lot.

Maybe he was better off letting Kaiba work for it a little more to make him pay for putting him in this situation.


	2. Spoiled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaiba can't take a good picture of himself to send, and Jounouchi isn't precisely interested in the quality so much as in the subject. Tonight, they'd deal with a phone call, a video call, genuine concerns, and maybe a bit of a dirty neuron involved in the synapses.

Reposition. Mirror angle correct, camera angle correct. Light coming from just where it had to. Face showing his best side. No smiling. That was unbecoming of him. Three, two, one. Snap.

Deep breath.

Kaiba looked at the picture, and contained himself from the calamity that would have been punching a mirror that didn’t belong to him. Blurry again. His hands were unsteady, likely from the fatigue and malaise that came from fighting his circadian rhythm. It was hard enough to look good for a camera in these conditions. Taking the photograph himself added an extra layer of things to worry about that he did not care about.

There was a face in there somewhere, if he looked hard enough. Most pictures were either either big swatches of motion blurs, pale skin and brown tones not really having a distinct form, or him looking particularly tired and in need of a blanket. Or like he was about to beat someone up, after these many attempts. Equally unsatisfying were even the ones in which he looked decently neutral, and that had been crisp and clear to the point where you could almost see every one of the eyelashes on his lower eyelids. He could not figure out why, other than deciding he didn’t really look like himself. Was it because the camera was too close? Was it the lens?

No reminder should have been necessary, but there was a reason why he didn’t do this. It wasn’t self-consciousness; he could handle the fake sound of the shutter. But he could not shake off the feeling that this was stupid, mundane and unlike him, and that it was clear how he had never been trained in any sort of visual arts. He didn’t enjoy being incompetent, no matter the discipline. However, he had already promised, and he was expected to deliver.

And still...

Would it really hurt to allow himself to look annoyed and bothered by the petition, to be frank about how he hadn’t slept much since he got off the plane? He could always say that something had come up and then pretend he was too busy. Nothing was going to stop him from doing so. Nobody would rat him out.

He gave up on the camera and pressed one of the only three options he had always at the ready on quick dial.

Jounouchi picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hello,” Kaiba replied. He would have stated the purpose of the call immediately, under normal circumstances. He knew he was taking too long to go into it.

“I wasn’t expecting a call?”

He was not sure how to phrase this in a way that came off at least somewhat agreeable. Whatever. Jounouchi could handle it.

“It’s not happening.”

From the speakers came a laugh, the kind that really made him want to invent something to teleport a piece of crumbled up paper, preferably projected at full speed.

“Aww, getting all camera shy all of a sudden? Your face is all over the city, you big doofus.”

“I know. That’s not why it’s not happening. Something came up.”

The laughter came to a halt.

“Wha… Really?”

Kaiba scrunched up his face. He couldn’t. Not necessarily because he felt bad about lying, although maybe that tension on his shoulder was precisely a bit of that, but because he didn’t think he needed an excuse for not wanting to do something.

“No, not really.”

“Then?”

“I’m not feeling it. All I got was a bunch of bad pictures.”

“No such thing as bad pictures of you, babe.”

“I mean it. I have about twenty blurry ones.”

“Unsteady arms?”

Silences like these were always a sign that someone did not want to admit to something, and that the other half of the argument was getting concerned. The usual segment that was fretting over details was about to commence. It would have been annoying, coming from most people, but Kaiba found within himself the will to relish on it from time to time. That didn’t mean he would readily admit to seeking out Jounouchi’s straightforward indulgence.

“Are you anemic again?”

“Are we seriously going to talk about—”

“Yes, because you don’t take me seriously about your weight and diet. You know you can’t keep getting your iron just from duck liver and fillet—”

“I feel fine.”

“Do you really? Last time you complained that you felt like you weren’t getting enough air. It’s cute when you fall asleep out of nowhere, but everything else is really not…”

“I’m not anemic. It’s just the jet lag.”

“In that case, have you tried to sleep?” Trying sounded about right. That was probably the most correct way to put it. “Ok, if you’re not gonna answer that, tell me one thing.”

“Is it the usual?”

“Yes. And be honest.”

Kaiba looked in the mirror, right under his eyes. He had been looking at them, but he had also been pretending they weren't so bad. Maybe that was why he felt different. Maybe it wasn’t just the jet lag. He ran a finger over one of the circles.

“They’re dark.”

“Ok. Oh man. Hold on, I’m gonna—”

Jounouchi hung up, and immediately started a video call. Not taking it would have been suspicious. Spoiled by the insistence, but not enough that he was experiencing any guilt, Kaiba put his phone on the shelf next to him and pressed the green button. They should have done this from the start.

“Seto, you look like death,” Jounouchi said, putting aside some cup ramen, and beginning to fiddle with the chopsticks in his hand.

Kaiba let out a throaty chuckle, noticing that even his vocal chords were too tired for much else.

“You sure like to be rude about it.”

“I don’t mean it like that. I still think you’re hot. But please go eat some spinach or something. I know you’re more of a meat person, but with how much you're restrict—"

“I just don’t have much of an appetite.”

“I can lend you some of that,” he said, as he absentmindedly tapped the rim of the ramen cup with his chopsticks. It should have been just a little before lunch back home. Someone had been unable to wait.

“That would help us both, if it was possible. But I really don’t think it’s too bad right now. I just haven’t slept much.”

“Am I… keeping you up?”

“Never.”

Even though, he technically was. It was rare for Kaiba to be able to call it a day this early, and instead of going to bed, he was more concerned about his inability to impress his significant other. Like a fool. Perhaps he ought to stick to over-the-top acts, such as getting Jounouchi’s favorite band to play on his birthday party, or something equally grandiose. He’d like that.

Jounouchi was surprisingly good at reading people once he learned their base, however, and some of Kaiba’s desire to have an extra hour of bedtime or two must have shone through.

“Alright. Send me a bunch of the bad pictures. We can call it a day.”

“They’re bad, Katsuya.”

“You’re just being too hard on yourself. Send me a few, and I promise I’ll put them to good use.”

He stopped to contemplate at that. His brain really wasn’t getting much oxygen for him to not catch on immediately. Really? His eyebrows went up.

“Put them to good use?”

Jounouchi put the chopsticks down and laughed like he had come up with and subjected Kaiba to the worst pun mankind had ever heard.

“I’m not precisely trying to put up a collage, you know. I, uh… My mind’s eye hasn’t been doing it lately. I thought you’d catch on sooner, huh…" He swayed his hand to the sides from his wrist in what should have been a dismissive gesture, but somehow managed to come across as apologetically bashful. "Please, don’t be mad.”

He felt slighted at not having the reasons for the pictures been made clear from the start, and at how they would have likely never been discussed hadn’t it been for this little blunder. Irked, not at Jounouchi, actually, but at himself. Or maybe just a little bit at Jounouchi, for daring to laugh.

But he should have known. He smirked tiredly and teasingly.

“I’m not.”

“Ok.” Jounouchi seemed to sense that there was a catch coming.

“I’ll take some more actually.”

“You don’t have to—”

“On one condition.”

“Oh, boy…” The fidgeting with the chopsticks resumed. Jounouchi face was buried in his own arm. In spite of all previous frustration, Kaiba could admit to feeling rather happy at the moment, if someone were to ask. A lot more than he had felt capable just a few minutes before. Perhaps because he knew he wouldn't be denied.

“They might not suit your taste, but if they do… I’m going to want some audio of that.”

With final clap and an embarrassed last bit of laughter, the answer was a somewhat whiny:

“Sure, why not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I came across the concept of amai a long time ago, and I haven't finished the thing that I was doing with my notes on it. It's a rather long tedium to edit, due to how much I've already looked at it, and I don't want to touch it right now. To trick myself into cracking open that notebook again, I made this.


	3. Am I Supposed to Thank You for That?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A surprisingly affable and meandering phone call in which Jounouchi almost kills the fun by suddenly getting serious when neither of them want to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is all dialogue, in case anyone has a problem with that. I know, it's been done a million times, but I still wanted to. Mostly (arguably) comedic in tone.

_-Beep... beep... beep...-_

_-click-_

"Who is this?"

"Kaiba, your shitty servers are broken."

"Alright, impolite."

"Your greeting wasn't a whole lot better."

"Why do you have this number, Jounouchi?"

"I'm not giving you my sources."

"It was Yugi."

"No, it wasn't Yugi. You know he wouldn't do that, and you know what else? It doesn't matter. I already have it. And we need to talk."

"Alright. I'll give you five seconds to state your case."

"Ok. Hear me out. I've been calling to have this solved for an hour already, and I keep getting bounced off to some waiting tune. You see, I'm on the main screen now, and it says I'm offline-"

"I'm hanging up."

"Waitwaitwait! Just kidding! I mean, the servers _are_ dead, that's not a lie—"

"You've had your five seconds, and you've already used them to basically tell me to fix my—" 

"Fix your shit, yeah. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt, Kaiba. Show me you're grateful."

"That is _so_ nice of you. But the servers are fine, and I'm not your tech support. Go figure your problem out on your own."

"Do I look that tech savvy to you?"

"You look nothing savvy."

"Screw you."

"Was it Yugi?"

"Again, no. Do you really think I could convince Yugi into giving me your number without asking you first?"

"You two are friends."

"And he's friends with you too."

"We're not. We have a professional—"

"Yeah, yeah, you guys work together sometimes, go out for lunch sometimes, get drunk together sometimes..."

"We're not—"

"Ok, maybe not wasted, but you're not fooling anyone. Wait, I'm not here to talk about that, and we both know it! Change the subject one more time and I'm gonna do something. I don't know what, but I'll think about it later."

"... Sure.

"Kaiba?"

"Yes?"

"Are you laughing?"

"... Absolutely not. Go on."

"... Really? You're muting the—"

"I said, go on."

"Well, I _can't_. I should be bragging to you, and I can't. Because your servers are down, and I'm pretty sure I was robbed by now."

"There is nothing wrong with the servers."

"Well, explain why I can't log in."

"Network."

"Connected."

"Firewall."

"Deactivated."

"False positive on antivirus."

"I don't even have one of those. It's a fresh machine I got from my latest gig, and I don't use my equipment for anything shady. Are you dodging my question?"

"Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

"Ok, now you're just messing with me."

"I am. But you did have it coming."

"How so."

"A call at nine? I was about to go home. Next time you might as well just waltz into my office."

"Would you let me?"

"I'd send you back with two guards."

"A flower in each hand, huh?"

"If you like your flowers on the burly side... Do you ever stop thinking like that?"

"Not if you keep giving me chances to. And I see what you're doing again. Stop it. Are you going to fix the servers?"

"I said the servers are fine."

" _Are they_?"

"Yes. Yes, they are. We have normal traffic as well. Everything is working just fine. The problem must be on your end. Maybe if you just clear the cache—"

"Are you playing with your telephone cord right now?"

"... It's a wireless telephone."

"Well, you sound like you'd be playing with your telephone chord. Maybe filing your nails. I don't know."

"Just fiddling with a pen, I'm afraid. Wondering when you're actually going to get to the point. You know. Waiting."

"How, very, _patient_ of you."

"I can drag this on for a very long time, if you let me."

"Oh, I'm sure you can. You're doing an excellent job at pretending like you don't owe like an entire manifesto of an apology right now."

"Don't you find it amusing?"

"Not as much as you do. Which does piss me off a little. Only a little."

"Pfahaha..."

"You bastard, I _knew_ it!"

"My bad. Forgot to mute."

"Tell me what happened. You know something."

"I said the servers are fine."

"Come ooonnnn. If they're fine, then what was it? This is fun, but I'm losing my mind here."

"Ok..."

"... I'm waiting?"

"I kicked you out."

"You—! Are you— I was winning!"

"Really?"

"I waasssss!"

"Does a tree falling in the forest make a sound when nobody's around to listen? Is Jounouchi Katsuya really about to win a match, if he didn't make it to the result screen and he has no footage?"

"I literally cannot believe you."

"I get that you're mad, but I need a clean record until next week. Go score a win against Yugi, if you have to, but do it soon. I'm getting that card banned."

"It's been there for years!"

"And thank you for letting me know it was broken before you could abuse it in a tournament. We keep having to update the banlist because of you."

"I refuse to follow to the meta. Shit's boring. New feature's broken. And zombies? No way."

"It plays well with the Red Eyes."

"I don't want to look at a projection of a melty rotting dragon. It's bad. Nobody wants to see their trump card like that. Whoever thought of that needs to go sit in a corner and thing about what they've done."

"Good point. Have you considered a career in design quality assurance? I could probably write you a recommendation letter, if you want."

"No. Just tell the people at Industrial to think about what they're doing before they print stuff."

"They stopped caring a while ago. Maybe I could buy them off, but I don't think that'd get rid of the power creep problem."

"There has to be another way that isn't constantly expanding the banlist."

"There's currently none that I'm aware of."

"There's _one_."

"No, there's _not_."

"Rotations."

"Are you suggesting I shouldn't use my Blue Eyes anymore?"

"I'm suggesting you need to move on. It had a good run while it lasted. We need to make peace, and let go."

"Not going to happen."

"You know someone will make it happen one way or another at this rate. You might want to pull the plug while you still have a choice."

"I am not changing the core of my deck. Suggest I should again, and I will slap you. It won't be a fun moment for either of us."

"I mean, that depends on your idea of fun..."

"... Excuse me?"

"... Holy— did I really just—?"

"Good question, Jounouchi, did you?"

" _I don't know_."

"..."

"Stop muting the speaker!"

"... I think Schrödinger would like to have a word with you."

"Yeah, I think he might want one with both of us, actually."

"Probably. Over what?"

"I dunno. What do you think? Are _you_ in a cat-in-a-box situation right now?

"Why? Are you?"

"Nonono. No. My answer depends on yours now. How's that sound?"

"Like a hassle. And like we're both better than this."

"Yeah, maybe. But not right now. Besides, doesn't it worry you?"

"What should?"

"Running out of... reasons."

"You mean excu—"

"I mean reasons."

"Hmm. No. There's always something if you think hard enough."

"You think so?"

"I really do. And I have to say that I'm enjoying myself more than I first thought I would..."

"... You know what? Same. But it almost feels like a shame. Like, right now, I think I'm pretty damn close to let something, you know, slip by. And I don't want to. Not over the phone, at least."

"You might want to not keep going then."

"I'd have to hang up. And I don't feel like doing that either."

"Well, either one or the other will have to happen, according to you."

"I know. I know..."

"... I like the way things are now. For now."

"Yeah, me too."

"So? Should we hang up?"

"Maybe? Wait. Kaiba... Are you— I can't believe I'm saying this, but... Would you like to—"

"Hold on. Jounouchi."

"Yeah?"

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"This."

_-click-_

_-beeeeep-_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At times, I get so pissed off that we missed on the chance of non-hostile interactions between these two in canon...
> 
> Well, I've dumped three things. My job is done. I'm off to treating myself to something alcoholic. See you when I catch a second wind.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the first installment of what I originally wanted to call "My Company Sometimes Pays Me to Write About Two Idiots with Complementary Dragons and They Have no Idea." This will most likely keep happening.
> 
> I'm afraid I might have made mistakes here and there, English as second language and whatnot. Feel free to rub them in my face if you want.


End file.
